RSS & the Libary continued

As Philip J. Hollenback wrote in Bloglines, Flickr, and del.icio.us make RSS delectable, RSS readers used to be primarily downloadable software. Users were stuck reading their RSS feeds on one computer unless they took time to sort through and "read" the same articles again.

Web applications including Bloglines and Google Reader overcome this problem by allowing users to access their RSS subscriptions from any computer with a web browser. As Hollenback writes, social networking sites such as Del.icio.us and Flickr now utilize RSS, allowing their users to receive updates at a single point using an RSS reader. RSS enables users to experience the freedom of ubiquitous computing as users can access their information independent of a specific location or computer.

Libraries should examine these services to see if their library can use them to connect with patrons who believe we still inhabit the world of the card catalogue.

As Randy Reichardt writes, in Success Story: RSS Moves into the Mainstream at the University of Alberta Libraries, "library functions using RSS include announcements, cataloguing, collection development, databases, instruction, Internet resources, new books, new journal issues, news, reference services, reviews, and tables of content."    

Librarians can also use RSS to receive information of a professional nature including new journal articles, books and blogs. LibWorm provides a list of links to library related blogs, podcasts, wikis and other library-related updates. MedWorm and the Ebling Library RSS feeds focus on providing up-to-date medical information over the Internet.

Librarians should examine Henry Jenkins' Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century and remember to teach users how to assess the validity of the information they receive, regardless of the technology, separating good information such as journal articles accessible using  EBSCO and ProQuest, from someone's opinion.